First Scout House Field Show Of 2013 Season

Cambridge mayor Doug Craig will ride the bus with members of Preston Scout House Alumni Band on the six hour drive from southern Ontario down the Susquehanna River, to bring 75th anniversary greetings to the people of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania from the Band and Cambridge during the 10th annual Cavalcade of Champions on Saturday July 6.

The Cavalcade of Champions performance will be the first Scout House field show of the season.

Lewisburg is Scout House Band’s home away from home. The original Band appeared in Lewisburg 10 times between 1956 and 1966. The Alumni Band has performed at the Cavalcade of Champions four more times since 2008.

Mayor Craig, an enthusiastic supporter of Scout House, will meet Lewisburg mayor Judy Wagner and Cavalcade organizer Graham C. Showalter during the Scout House visit.

Scout House Band originated in 1938 as an innovative new activity for members of the 1st Preston Boy Scout Troop under the direction of Wilf Blum, one of the first Canadians inducted into the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame. The exceptional support provided by the town of Preston to the original band continues with the city of Cambridge, which includes the former adjoining towns of Preston, Galt and Hespeler.

The city traditionally provides an annual financial grant to support Scout House activities, a practice established long ago by the town council of Preston. For 2013, Cambridge provided an additional $7,500 grant in recognition of the group’s anniversary. Mayor Craig and Cambridge Commissioner of Community Services Kent McVittie meet several times a year with the Band’s city hall liaison group, to review projects and offer city resources that could help to support the Band.

One of the major cooperative projects this year is a display of Scout House trophies and awards, vintage instruments, photos and other memorabilia organized by Band members Mike Young and Roger Craig working in conjunction with Lynn Griggs, the city’s Corporate Archives Records Technician. The Scout House artifacts will be on public display in the art gallery of the Cambridge Centre for the Arts from July 4 until the end of the year. Many of the items on display have been in storage, unseen by the general public for more than 50 years. During 30 years of operation up until 1967, Preston Scout House Band won more than 80 regional, provincial, national and international awards.

Cambridge city officials also provided guidance in arranging to have recruiting information for Preston Scout House Cadets and the Alumni Band included in the fall edition of the city of Cambridge Activities Guide, distributed to every home in the city.

Scout House will cross the border again on July 13, to perform for the second year a row in Hornell, New York at the 19th annual Music Under the Stars contest. Other field show performances will take place in Oshawa, Ontario; Rochester, New York and Annapolis, Maryland later in the summer.

The highlight of the Band’s summer performance schedule will be the 4th annual Scout House Invitational Tattoo, at University Stadium in Waterloo, Ontario on Saturday, August 10. The Tattoo line up includes Hawthorne Caballeros Alumni Drum and Bugle Corps, Hawthorne, New Jersey; Les Diplomates du Quebec Alumni Drum and Bugle Corps, Quebec City, Quebec; Mighty St. Joe’s Alumni Drum and Bugle Corps, LeRoy, New York; Empire Statesmen Drum and Bugle Corps, Rochester, New York; Optimists Alumni Drum and Bugle Corps, Toronto, Ontario; Burlington Teen Tour Band, Burlington, Ontario; Preston Scout House Alumni Band and Preston Scout House Cadets youth drum line.

For more information about Scout House Alumni Band, contact Activities Director Nancy Weiler at telephone (519) 653-3376, email prestonscouthouseband [dot] adm [at] sympatico [dot] ca or visit the Web site at http://www.scouthouseband.com/

Information about Preston Scout House Cadets is available from Del Barclay at: gascap [at] golden [dot] net or Jim Pratt at: kusankusho [at] hotmail [dot] com